Orexo Appoints Robert A. DeLuca as President of Orexo US Inc.
Uppsala, Sweden - July 1, 2013 – Orexo AB announces today that it has appointed Robert A. DeLuca, as President of Orexo US Inc., a fully owned US subsidiary of Orexo AB. Orexo US Inc will focus on commercialization of Zubsolv™ (buprenorphine and naloxone, sublingual tablets) in collaboration with the appointed partner Publicis Touchpoint Solutions. With the establishment of a commercial leadership team in the US, Orexo AB in Sweden will focus its resources on the development of new products including product extensions of Zubsolv, manufacturing and quality assurance and provide overall corporate governance. Mr. DeLuca will become a member of the Executive Management team of Orexo AB.
Robert A. DeLuca brings an extensive and relevant experience from establishing commercial operations in the US, which will be important for the launch of Zubsolv in September 2013. DeLuca has extensive experience within managed care, marketing and sales from various leadership positions at Sanofi, Schering-Plough, Berlex, Pharmacia and most recently as Chief Commercial Officer at Archimedes Pharma.
DeLuca is a New Jersey licensed pharmacist and graduated from St. John’s University in New York City. DeLuca is on the St. John’s College of Pharmacy Advisory Board, serves on the Board of Trustees of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Foundation, and is a member of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) and the American and New Jersey Pharmacists Association.
”Orexo provides an exciting opportunity and I have great expectations for the launch of Zubsolv in the United States. I am impressed with the product profile, especially the data from the acceptance trial, in which 89 percent of trial participants favored Zubsolv over the conventional buprenorphine treatment modalities for opioid addiction. We feel this product will address one of the major health issues in the US and I am looking forward to establishing a strong organization to execute the launch of Zubsolv in a market with significant growth potential,” said Robert A. DeLuca, President of Orexo US Inc.
”Establishing a commercial presence in the US is a key milestone towards the launch of Zubsolv and I am particularly pleased that we have succeeded in recruiting Mr. DeLuca to establish and lead our US subsidiary and the launch of Zubsolv. He brings extensive experience in establishing commercial operations in the US and his background in managed care will be a major asset to ensure a successful launch of Zubsolv,” said Nikolaj Sørensen, President and CEO of Orexo AB.
With the appointment of Robert A. DeLuca, Orexo AB will activate the subsidiary Orexo US Inc. registered in the state of Delaware.
For further information, please contact:
Nikolaj Sørensen, President and CEO, Orexo AB
Tel: +46 70-350 78 88, E-mail: nikolaj.sorensen@orexo.com
Robert A. DeLuca, President, Orexo US Inc
Tel: + 1 201 953 1349, E-mail: robert.deluca@orexo.com
About Orexo
Orexo is an emerging specialty pharma company developing improved treatments using proprietary drug delivery technology. Orexo’s expertise is within the area of reformulation technologies and especially sublingual formulations. The company has a portfolio of revenue-generating US and EU approved products currently marketed under license and a pipeline of several reformulations of approved compounds for areas of unmet medical need. Orexo also has collaboration projects with several international pharma companies. Orexo, with its headquarters in Sweden, is listed on NASDAQ-OMX. The largest shareholders are Novo A/S and HealthCap.
About Zubsolv™
Zubsolv is a novel sublingual formulation of buprenorphine and naloxone using Orexo’s extensive knowledge in sublingual technologies. Zubsolv is intended for maintenance treatment of people suffering from opioid dependence. Preparations for the commercial launch will commence immediately, in anticipation of the projected approval by the FDA in early July 2013 with launch in September 2013. Through application of its proprietary technologies Orexo has increased the bioavailability of the active ingredient, accelerated dissolve time, reduced tablet size and improved taste. In a comparative acceptability study 9 out of 10 participants choose Zubsolv over the market leader Suboxone Film for a daily treatment. Zubsolv has the potential to be the leading product on a growing USD 1.5 billion market, with more than five million patients suffering from opioid dependence and where a majority of patients are not adequately treated today. Market potential for Zubsolv is at peak estimated at above USD 500 million in sales annually.
For more information about Orexo please visit www.orexo.com.
Orexo is required under the Financial Instruments Trading Act to make the information in this press release public. The information was submitted for publication at 09:30am CET on July 1, 2013
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